Tannin: Sea Serpent, Dinosaur, Snake, Dragon, or Jackal?

Abstract

Dragon legends around the world have been prevalent for generations. Dragons are even mentioned in books of the Old Testament. But were they real creatures or just mythological? The Hebrew word תנין (tannin) has been translated in several ways, but this paper will attempt to show that the term likely refers to both land and sea serpents or dragons. Determining the meaning of tannin requires a close look at the actual Hebrew word and a study of the various contexts in which it appears.

The word dinosaur refers strictly to land
animals, but some people often label marine reptiles (e.g., plesiosaurs) and
flying reptiles (e.g., pteranodons) as dinosaurs.1Dinosaur is also a relatively new word, having been coined in 1841 by the
famous British scientist Sir Richard Owen.2 Prior to this time, another
word was used for large reptilian creatures: dragon. Answers in Genesis has often promoted the idea that many of the
characteristics of historical (often considered mythological) dragons actually
match those of certain dinosaurs.

The Bible describes a few fascinating creatures that some have classified as dragons.

The Bible describes a few fascinating creatures that some have classified
as dragons. There is Leviathan, the mighty, imperviously scaled sea creature
that breathes fire (Job 41).3 Another animal called
“behemoth” is described as a plant-eating creature that “moves his tail like a
cedar” and whose “bones are like beams of bronze” (Job 40:15–24). Behemoth’s characteristics, along with other descriptions in
this passage, often bring to mind the mighty sauropod dinosaurs, such as Brachiosaurus.4

These two creatures are described at length as specific beasts,
but there is another Hebrew word used to describe a dragon-like creature: תנין (tannin,
pronounced tan-neen), which seems to cover a broad range of reptilian
creatures. Two questions about the word tannin must be answered: was it a sea serpent, snake,
dragon, dinosaur, or simply a category of animals?
And did it live in water, on land, or both?

How Is Tannin Defined by Bible
Scholars?

Not surprisingly, many Bible scholars do not agree that tannin refers to a dragon, and because of this disagreement, many
proposed definitions exist. There are at least three plausible reasons why theologians
disagree on a definition of tannin.

Translators look very
closely at the context of a passage to find the most accurate translation of a
Hebrew word, and sometimes that context is not clear enough to make a confident
decision. They also look at all passages where the word occurs, and the
contexts, in order to determine the range of the word’s possible meanings.

Confusion exists over
two very similar words: tannin and tannim. Tannin is the singular form of a creature like a serpent or dragon (whether
land-dwelling or sea-dwelling)—the plural form would be tanninim as used in Genesis 1:21 (“sea creatures”).
Meanwhile, tannim is the plural form of tan (jackal).

Evolutionary ideas have
so affected every area of study, even biblical studies, that most theologians
are unwilling to admit that this word could reference a real dragon.5

Let’s take a look at how tannin is defined in various concordances and lexicons. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible defines tannin as “a marine or land monster, i.e. sea-serpent or jackal: dragon,
sea monster, serpent, whale.”6Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew
and English Lexicon offers the definition “serpent, dragon, sea monster.”7The Hebrew and Aramaic
Lexicon of the Old Testament by Koehler and Baumgartner
includes sea-monster, sea-dragon, dragon, serpent, and even crocodile as
possible definitions.8 That is a large range of
possibilities.

Some people use a rule of interpretation known as the Principle of
First Mention
(or Reference), which holds that ”when an important word or
concept occurs for the first time in the Bible, usually in the Book of
Genesis, the context in which it
occurs sets the pattern for its primary usage and development all through the
rest of Scripture.”9 However, there are problems with this idea when it is adhered to as an absolute.10 The first time tannin appears in Scripture, it is in its plural form (tanninim)
and refers to great sea creatures (Genesis 1:21). Yet some later uses of tannin clearly refer to some sort of land animal, as we will demonstrate.
So while this principle may be useful in some cases, the word tannin, like most other words, can change
meaning depending on the context.

Consider how tannin is translated in Genesis 1:21 (NASB): “God
created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which
the waters swarmed after their kind.” The
word tanninim has been rendered “sea monsters” (NASB), “sea creatures” (NKJV,
ESV), “whales” (KJV), and “creatures of the sea” (NIV).11 Since the passage references the waters swarming with these creatures, most translators
chose to include the word “sea” in their rendering. The
description of animals mentioned in Genesis
1 are broad groupings (“birds,”
“living creatures” in the water, “cattle, creeping thing and beast
of the earth”). In the context of such a
listing, it would be more consistent to view tanninim as a general category of creatures rather
than a specific kind
of animal.

If tannin has a few possible meanings, can we really
say for sure that it is always referring to the same creature—some sort of
land- or sea-dragon—each time it is used? Yes and no. To better understand this
question, it might be helpful to look at the specific biblical descriptions of
a tannin. It is important to note that many of these descriptions are found
in poetic or prophetic passages of Scripture. So the point of some of the
following verses is not necessarily to describe one of these creatures, but to
compare an individual or nation to such a beast, often for size and fierceness.

Descriptions of Tannin in the Bible

The characteristics of a tannin, as described in Scripture, are helpful in determining what this
creature could have been. We learn that a tannin was powerful—so powerful that one, figuratively speaking, needed a
“guard” to keep it under control (Job 7:12). And according to Isaiah, it was difficult to kill. In both Isaiah 27:1 and 51:9, it is the Lord who slays the tannin. The Leviathan is described as an
incredibly strong creature in Job 41, and it is called a tannin in Isaiah 27:1, so some tanninim were
very powerful.

In Deuteronomy 32:33, Moses utilized synonymous parallelism
to equate a tannin with a cobra. When Aaron cast his rod
before Pharaoh and his servants, it became a tannin (Exodus 7:9), often understood to be some type of snake, as will be shown below. So these beasts can be quite powerful (and
presumably large), and they can also be serpentine (and presumably smaller).

Where Did Tannin Live?

Whether or not a tannin lived in the sea, on land, or both is another area of debate. Some
passages clearly place these creatures in water. We have already seen that Genesis 1:21 describes them as “sea creatures.” The Bible also
speaks of the Lord slaying the “dragon who lives in the sea” (Isaiah 27:1, NASB). Job makes much of tannin, asking, “Am I a sea, or a sea
serpent [tannin], that You set a guard over me?” (Job 7:12).

The passages mentioned earlier from Exodus 7:9–12 and Deuteronomy 32:33 reveal that a tannin can also be a land-dwelling creature. In Exodus 7:9–12 Aaron and the
Egyptian magicians are able to turn their respective rods into tanninim. Aaron’s rod turning
into a tannin mirrored the sign God had earlier given to Moses when
his staff was turned into a serpent (Exodus 4:3). The Hebrew
word used in this passage is nachash, the same word
used for the “serpent” in Genesis
3. Nachash is regularly described as a land
animal (e.g., Genesis 49:17; Numbers 21:9; Proverbs 30:19).

Tannin may not refer to just one specific creature.

Earlier, it was mentioned that Deuteronomy 32:33
equates a tannin with a cobra through the use of poetic
parallelism. This same type of
parallelism12 is elsewhere used to connect a tannin with a cobra (Heb. pethen). Psalm 91:13 states,
“You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra (pethen), the young lion
and the serpent (tannin) you shall trample underfoot.” Isaiah 11:8 describes pethen as creatures that live in holes in the ground. The fact
that tanninim are linked with land-dwelling snakes, such as nachash and pethen, demonstrates that some tanninim lived on
land.

The Bible shows that tanninim made their home in both the land and the sea. This is not to say
that they were necessarily amphibious, although some may have been, but that tannin may not refer to just one specific creature, and instead to a diverse category of
creatures that had some representatives in the sea and some on land.

Confusion over Tannin and Tannim

One of the trickiest parts of this discussion involves a
misunderstanding caused by a very similar looking and similar sounding word in
Hebrew: תַנִּים (tannim), which is often translated as “jackals.” Many
early English translations of the Bible equated these two terms and rendered tannim as “dragons” instead of “jackals.” Conflating these two separate
words has led to a great deal of the difficulty in nailing down a definition
for tannin. For example, earlier it
was shown that Strong’s concordance listed “jackal” as a meaning of tannin. But this is a result of
mixing tannin and tannim.

Tannim is the masculine plural form of the Hebrew word tan, which does not appear in
singular form in the Bible. Tan is the Hebrew word for jackal, so tannim would mean “jackals,” and it appears in 15 verses in the Old
Testament. On the other hand, tannin is the singular form of the word for dragon or serpent, while the
plural is tanninim, and tannin is found in 14 verses in the Old Testament. Under its entry for
jackals (תַּן, tan), the New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and
Exegesis states, “The form tannîm is not to be confused with tannîn, sea
creatures.”13 Many of the most
well-respected Hebrew lexicons and wordbooks draw a distinction between tannin and tannim.14

Perhaps the easiest way to see the significant difference between
the two words is to examine a handful of verses in which the terms appear.

Psalm 74:13 states, “You
divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea serpents (tanninim)
in the waters.” Notice the plural form of tannin is used to describe more than one sea serpent. Exodus 7 uses both
the singular and plural form of this word.

Then the Lord spoke to
Moses and Aaron, saying, “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle
for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it before
Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent [tannin].’” So Moses and Aaron went
in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down
his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent [tannin]. But Pharaoh also called
the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in
like manner with their enchantments. For every man threw down his rod, and they
became serpents [tanninim]. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. (Exodus 7:8–12)

Now consider how the word tannim is used. Isaiah 13:22 states, “The
hyenas will howl in their citadels, and jackals [tannim] in their
pleasant palaces.” Tannim are frequently mentioned as a picture of judgment on a city or
nation, since jackals were often observed to roam abandoned places.15 For example, in reference
to Edom (possibly representing other surrounding nations as well), God said, “It shall become a
habitation of jackals [tannim]” (Isaiah 34:13). The same phrase or similar wording depicting desolation is used
in Isaiah 35:7; Jeremiah 9:11, 10:22, 49:33, and 51:37. With the exception of two disputed verses (discussed below),
each occurrence of tannim makes it clear that land animals are in view. For example, Jeremiah 14:6 describes tannim sniffing the wind. Many other passages place them in the same
context as ostriches (e.g., Job 30:29; Isaiah 34:13; Micah 1:8), thus identifying tannim as land animals.

In Jeremiah 51, both tannin and tannim are used in close proximity, and the differences between the two
creatures being described are readily apparent. The prophet vividly described
Babylon’s cruelty toward Jerusalem by writing, “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has
crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a
monster [tannin]; he has filled his stomach with my delicacies, he has
spit me out” (Jeremiah 51:34). Just a few verses later, he wrote, “Babylon shall become a
heap, a dwelling place for jackals [tannim], an astonishment and a
hissing, without an inhabitant” (Jeremiah 51:37). The tannin (v. 34) here seems to refer to a large animal capable of crushing (and
so, in this instance, more likely a land-dweller) and devouring a
person,
although it could also describe a large aquatic
or semi-aquatic creature with the same abilities. But this could hardly refer to a jackal. Three verses later we find a
picture of the judgment of desolation being decreed for Babylon, and the tannim (jackals) are used to signify such a verdict.

Answering Objections to the Distinction
Between Tannin and Tannim

A few objections could be raised against the idea that tannin and tannim are two completely separate words.

These are simply the
Aramaic and Hebrew plurals of the same word.

This objection highlights another confusing element in this
discussion. Hebrew and Aramaic are very similar in many ways. In fact, certain
portions of the Old Testament were written in Aramaic, and the languages share
an alphabet. One of the differences between the two involves how a plural is
made from the singular form. For a masculine plural in Hebrew an “–im” (ים) suffix is
added, while in Aramaic an “–in” (ין) ending is added.

The objection proposes that since tannin and tannim appear to have these suffixes, then perhaps they are simply the
Aramaic and Hebrew plurals of tan, respectively. The problem
with this claim is that, in context, tannin matches the singular associated verb form, and its plural (tanninim)
is used five times in the Old Testament (Genesis 1:21; Exodus 7:12; Deuteronomy 32:33; Psalm 74:13 and 148:7). Even in English Bibles, this distinction is clear from the
contexts in which tannin is used. So tannin is not an Aramaic plural of tan. It is a Hebrew singular word that likely refers to a serpent or
dragon.

Two
verses clearly use tannim to refer to a water creature.

In Ezekiel 29:3 and 32:2, tannim has been translated as a water creature, perhaps a crocodile.16 This would be a strong
argument against the idea that tannin and tannim are two distinct words, except for the fact that there is good
manuscript evidence to show that the Hebrew word in both passages was originally tannin.

In its entry for tannin, Brown-Driver-Briggs states that it is
erroneously used as tannim in Ezekiel 29:3 and 32:2 “by confusion with” the plural of tan, which would be tannim. Also, the Septuagint
(LXX), the Greek version of the Old Testament translated more than 200 years
before Christ, uses the word δράκοντα (accusative form of δράκων) in Ezekiel 29:3 and δρακων in Ezekiel 32:2. Those without a knowledge of Greek could probably guess that
these are the words for “dragon” in Greek. So the translators of the LXX
apparently had a copy of the Hebrew Scriptures, which had tannin rather than tannim in these two verses. The NET Bible includes the following
translator’s note for Ezekiel 29:3: “Heb ‘jackals,’ but many medieval Hebrew manuscripts read
correctly ‘the serpent.’”17 In other words, several
Hebrew manuscripts existed in medieval times that used the word tannin rather than tannim. Finally, the Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament also mentions the manuscript differences in the verses in
question.18

Tannin is used in Lamentations 4:3 to refer to a mammal,
not a serpent.

Lamentations 4:3 states, “Even
the jackals [tannin] present their breasts to nurse their young; but the
daughter of my people is cruel, like ostriches in the wilderness.” This objection is similar to the previous one, because it
appears to provide a counterexample to the position proposed in this article.
That is, since the English is rendered as “jackals,” then we should expect the
Hebrew word to be tannim, but instead, it is tannin—at least in the copies
we currently have available. However, there are a couple of plausible reasons
to believe the original was indeed tannim.

While we do not possess the original manuscripts or even the
earliest copies, we do have some notes of the
people who copied the Hebrew texts used for the translation of the Old
Testament. The Masoretes were responsible for copying and preserving the
Masoretic text, and they are also the scribes who inserted vowel points into
the text (the original Hebrew was a consonantal language) sometime between the fifth and ninth centuries AD.19

While copying the texts, the Masoretes took extreme care to
faithfully copy the manuscripts. They refused to make any changes to the
manuscripts, but they did write notes in the columns to explain difficulties in
the actual texts. They also included what is tantamount to a pronunciation
guide, called the Qere (from the Aramaic word meaning “to be read”). In Lamentations 4:3, the Qere states that it should be tannim.20 So the Masoretic scribes
copying the Old Testament believed that tannim was the proper word here, but they refused to alter any letter of
the text. Furthermore, the Latin Vulgate
translation of the Bible, completed by Jerome c. 405 AD, renders the
word in question as lamiae, the Latin
word for “jackals.” Apparently, Jerome was in
possession of at least one Hebrew copy
with tannim in Lamentations 4:3.

Using tannin here also does not fit the grammar of the
sentence, since tannin is in the singular form, but the pronoun (“their”) referring to
this word is plural. If the original word were truly tannim, then the plural pronoun
would match the plural noun.21 The context of this passage provides
another clue that this word should be “jackals” (tannim). In
approximately half of the uses of tannim in Scripture, it is used in
connection with “ostriches,” just as in this verse.22 Yet tannin is not found elsewhere in connection with ostriches.

While we may not have the necessary textual
evidence to reach a decisive conclusion on this point, tannin does not fit the context or the grammar of the sentence. Nor would the statement make any
sense, since to the
best of our knowledge, serpents or dragons did not nurse their young. Mammals do
nurse their young, so “jackals” is a good fit here.

Historical Uses of Tannin and the Continuing
Debate

Interestingly, the debate over the meaning of tannin seems to have intensified since the rise of evolutionary ideas.
Until evolutionary ideas surfaced in the 1800s, Bible translations such as the
King James Version, the Geneva Bible, Wycliffe’s Bible, and even some foreign
translations chose the word dragon as the best translation in most of the passages where tannin occurs. The Septuagint often translates tannin as δράκων (drakōn)—the Greek word for dragon.

Many commentators and translators today would not agree with
translating tannin as dragon. They opt instead to use
words like whale or monster.

Looking at how tannin was translated historically, it is clear that the precise meaning
of this word has been uncertain to translators for some time. However, if it is
right to distinguish between tannin (serpent, dragon) and tannim (jackals), then we can state with a high degree of certainty that tannin refers to one of several types of creatures (probably reptilian) that
could include large sea creatures and other serpentine creatures on land. Could the
word encompass dinosaurs too? Perhaps, but a good case for
this is not found in Scripture.23

Every use of tannin or tanninim in the Old
Testament

Biblical Reference

English Translation (NKJV)

Genesis 1:21

So God created great sea creatures [tanninim] and
every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to
their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it
was good.

Exodus 7:9

When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, “Show a miracle for
yourselves,” then you shall to Aaron, “Take your rod and cast it before
Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent” [tannin].

Exodus 7:10

So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so,
just as the Lord commanded. And
Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became
a serpent [tannin].

Exodus 7:12

For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents
[tanninim]. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

Deuteronomy 32:33

Their wine is the poison of serpents [tanninim],
and the cruel venom of cobras.

Nehemiah 2:13

And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the
Serpent [tannin] Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of
Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire.

Job 7:12

Am I a sea, or a sea serpent [tannin], that You set
a guard over me?

Psalm 74:13

You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads
of the sea serpents [tanninim] in the waters.

Psalm 91:13

You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young
lion and the serpent [tannin] you shall trample underfoot.

Psalm 148:7

Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures [tanninim]
and all the depths.

Isaiah 27:1

In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and
strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted
serpent; and He will slay the reptile [tannin] that is in the sea.24

Isaiah 51:9

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! Awake as in ancient days, in the
generations of old. Are You not the arm that cut Rahab apart, and wounded the
serpent [tannin]?

Jeremiah 51:34

Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has
crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel, he has swallowed me up like a
monster [tannin]; he has filled his stomach with my delicacies, he has
spit me out.

Ezekiel 29:3*

Speak, and say, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I am
against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster [tannim] who
lies in the midst of his rivers, who has said, “My River is my
own; I have made it for myself.”’”

Ezekiel 32:2*

Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of
Egypt, and say to him: “You are like a young lion among the nations, and you are
like a monster [tannim] in the seas, bursting forth in your rivers,
troubling the waters with your feet, and fouling their rivers.”

* - denotes textual variant. See article for reasons that
this should be tannin.

Every use of tannim in the Old Testament

Biblical Reference

English Translation (NKJV)

Job 30:29

I am a brother of jackals [tannim], and a companion
of ostriches.

Psalm 44:19

But You have severely broken us in the place of jackals [tannim],
and covered us with the shadow of death.

Isaiah 13:22

The hyenas will howl in their citadels, and jackals [tannim]
in their pleasant palaces.

Isaiah 34:13

And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and
brambles in its fortresses; it shall be a habitation of jackals [tannim],
a courtyard for ostriches.

Isaiah 35:7

The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty
land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals [tannim], where
each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

Isaiah 43:20

The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals [tannim] and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen.

Jeremiah 9:11

I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals [tannim].
I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

Jeremiah 10:22

Behold, the noise of the report has come, and a great
commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, a
den of jackals [tannim].

Jeremiah 14:6

And the wild donkeys stood in the desolate heights; they
sniffed at the wind like jackals [tannim]; their eyes failed because
there was no grass.

Jeremiah 49:33

Hazor shall be a dwelling for jackals [tannim]; a
desolation forever; no one shall reside there, nor son of man dwell in it.

Jeremiah 51:37

Babylon shall become a heap, a dwelling place for jackals
[tannim], an astonishment and a hissing, without an inhabitant.

Lamentations 4:3*

Even the jackals [tannin] present their breasts to nurse
their young; but the daughter of my people is cruel, like ostriches in the
wilderness.

Micah 1:8

Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and
naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals [tannim] and a mourning
like the ostriches.

Malachi 1:3**

But Esau I have hated, and laid waste his mountains and
his heritage for the jackals [tannot] of the wilderness.

* - denotes proposed textual variant. See article for
reasons this word should be tannim.

** - denotes the feminine plural form of tan.

Conclusion

Trying to reach a conclusion on exactly what a tannin was and where it lived requires an in-depth look at the original
languages and sorting out two words that are often conflated. What should we
make of tanninim? It
appears that they are a group of serpentine creatures, rather than one specific type, with some living on land and some in the sea. They have
often been called dragons, serpents, and monsters—even Leviathan! But did they include what we would call dinosaurs in retrospect, given
that such terminology and current
classification systems aren’t perfect and haven’t been
around very long? Probably not, but it
seems possible that some dinosaurs could be classified
as the
land-dwelling tanninim. Behemoth seems a
more likely candidate for at least one type of dinosaur.

Concerning modern translations, the rapid disappearance of any
mention of dragons from translations that appeared after the rise of
evolutionary ideas is alarming. And it is a good teaching point—Christians need
to be careful when permitting the Bible to be interpreted in light of man’s
ideas, especially ideas like evolution. The Bible should be used to explain the
world on its own terms.

Answers in Depth

2012 Volume 7

Footnotes

The technical definition of a dinosaur is a reptilian land creature having one of two hip structures that permit the animal to be raised up off the ground (not typically resting on its belly). This is why crocodiles, komodo dragons, and other reptiles today are not classed as dinosaurs, nor are the sea or flying reptiles.

Leviathan is simply a transliteration of the Hebrew. It is not identified as a tannin in Job 41, but it is in Psalm 74:13–14 and Isaiah 27:1 (see also ref. 24).

Behemoth is, again, simply a transliteration of the Hebrew. It is not identified as a tannin in Scripture.

In an evolutionary mindset, dinosaurs supposedly died out millions of years before man, so even though many descriptions, accounts, and depictions of dragons are very much like dinosaurs, these Bible scholars must appeal to dragons as mythology because their worldview demands it.

One example of the problem with the Principle of First Mention occurs in Genesis 1:4–5. The first use of the Hebrew word for day, yom, occurs in verse 4, indicating the daylight hours. However, in verse 5, the second use of yom refers to a twenty-four–hour day. If this principle is used as the absolute standard without respect to the context in determining the meaning of a word, then yom must refer only to the daylight hours in any subsequent reference—resulting in significant problems in reading and interpreting numerous passages of Scripture.

At first glance, Genesis 1 looks like a strong argument for tanninim being exclusively sea creatures as it seems to claim that the tanninim were made on Day Five. However, as will be shown, there are some clear uses of tannin in Scripture that refer to a land animal. Also, the Bible does not rule out the possibility that some of the creatures made on Day Six could also be classified as tanninim. Note that the tanninim made on Day Five were “great” (Hebrew gadōl) tanninim. So perhaps only the “great” varieties of these creatures were made on Day Five (aquatic), while smaller land animals, later identified as tanninim, were made on Day Six (terrestrial). This seems to be consistent with Scriptural usage, since the mentions of tanninim in a marine setting seem to describe an incredibly powerful beast, while the land contexts describe a creature like a snake (albeit sometimes a powerful one capable of crushing and devouring its prey).

Those reviewed for
this article include the New International Dictionary of Old
Testament Theology and Exegesis, the Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Brown-Driver-Briggs, the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, and the Dictionary of Biblical Languages with
Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament).

One problem with this
view is that the pronoun is feminine in gender, so the original word may have
been tannôt, the feminine plural of tan, which also appears in Malachi 1:3. Perhaps this is the result of a copyist
error somewhere along the way.

Out of 14
uses of a plural form of tan, the word appears with “ostriches”
in Job 30:29; Isaiah 13:21; 34:13; 43:20; Jeremiah 50:39; Micah 1:8. If the
original text of Lamentations 4:3 had tannim,
then exactly half of the uses of this word
would appear alongside “ostriches.”

If tannin could refer to a dinosaur, then Jeremiah 51:34 would seem to be
the best verse to use in support of
such an idea, since the verse speaks of a “monster” (tannin) that crushes and devours. However, this could just as easily
refer to a serpent, which is how the word is used in every other reference to a
land tannin.

Some commentators believe Isaiah 27:1 has three enemies in view symbolized as Leviathan [livyathan] the fleeing serpent, Leviathan [livyathan] that twisted serpent, and the reptile [tannin] that is in the sea. For example, see H.D.M. Spence, gen. ed., The Pulpit Commentary: Isaiah Vol. I (Bellingham, Washington: Logos Bible Software, 2004), p. 433. Most commentaries we consulted view these three descriptions as references to the same enemy that will be vanquished. Given the nature of Hebrew poetry and its reliance upon parallelism (see also ref. 12), it seems likely that one beast (enemy) is being described in various ways. Thus Leviathan is the swift and crooked serpent that is also the dragon of the sea.